The present disclosure is directed to navigation devices and systems. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to navigational processing for efficiently updating and communicating real-time maneuver changes on a navigational map.
Navigation systems are electronic, processor-based systems that aid in navigation. Navigation systems may be configured to be entirely on board a vehicle or vessel, or they may be located elsewhere and communicate via radio or other signals with a vehicle or vessel, or they may use a combination of these methods. Navigation systems may be capable of containing maps, which may be displayed in human readable format via text or in a graphical format, determining a vehicle or vessel's location via sensors, maps, or information from external sources, providing suggested directions to a human in charge of a vehicle or vessel via text or speech, providing directions directly to an autonomous vehicle such as a robotic probe, providing information on nearby vehicles or vessels, or other hazards or obstacles, and providing information on traffic conditions and suggesting alternative directions.
Examples of conventional navigational systems may be found in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0173159 to Trum et al., titled “Navigation Device” published Jul. 4, 2013; U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2010/0138146 to Vogt et al., titled “Routing Method, Routing Arrangement, Corresponding Computer Program, And Processor-Readable Storage Medium,” published Jun. 3, 2010; U.S. Pat. No. 7,522,997 to Asahara et al., titled “Navigation Apparatus,” issued Apr. 21, 2009; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,507 to Allan M. Kirson, titled “Land Vehicle Multiple Navigation Route Apparatus,” issued Jun. 15, 1993; each of which is incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.
Navigation devices are known to be configured to provide alternate routes and to provide guidance. However, the manner in which alternate routes are presented in navigation systems is not optimally effective and intuitive to use for a driver. As current navigational system map displays become more saturated with information, users become overwhelmed by the data being displayed to them. This issue becomes more acute in instances where navigation data is changed and/or updated in real time to incorporate a change in status of a navigational path (e.g., traffic accident, congestion, etc.). As a navigational map may already be filled with different information encoded by colors, icons and text (e.g. street or city names, road types, points-of-interest, speed-and-flow information, availability of parking spaces, etc.), a sudden change in the navigational path and/or status may not be presented efficiently in order to allow the user to act upon new navigational information. Furthermore, incorporating updates and/or sudden changes into conventional navigation systems would needlessly complicate the navigational experience and even be potentially distracting and a hazard for a driver.
For example, if markers are used in a conventional navigation system to show different estimated time of arrival (ETA) or length of an alternative route on the map, the driver may confuse this with icons for points-of-interest (POI) or route names. Furthermore, if the alternative routes are drawn in a certain color, the meaning of this color may not be known to the driver or it may be confused with other information that is encoded by coloring of the streets (e.g. the road type). What is needed is a system that allows short-term maneuvering instructions/sequences to be displayed to a user in an efficient and non-distracting way.